REVIVE AND MULTIPLY
How planting new churches brings spiritual renewal pg. 4
GOD WAS THERE, GOD IS HERE A recap of LIFE 2025 pg. 16
THE ARMY OF GOD IS NOW IN TOWN
One pastor’s journey of following God’s call to church planting again and again pg. 24
LET US TURN TO THE LORD— AGAIN
I spent much of my high school, college, and seminary years praying for revival. Usually, my prayers were from Acts 2—asking God to pour out His Spirit in visible, miraculous, larger-than-life ways. Yet the moments of revival I have experienced, personally or corporately, always began quietly—always with repentance.
A prayer that often arises during my personal times of quiet is, Holy Spirit, what are You saying to the Church? More recently, I’ve found myself asking, What are You saying now about revival and renewal, and how can we respond? A couple of passages of Scripture—and kernels of application within them— have come to mind as a result. I’d like to share them with you.
The first passage is Nehemiah 8–9. In this book, Nehemiah leads the effort to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem after Israel’s long exile in Babylon. And he doesn’t do it alone. Many people take part, building their own sections of the wall by hand. When the wall is built—with only the gates missing—everyone gathers to hear Ezra read the Book of the Law of Moses. Their first reaction is to mourn. But Nehemiah, Ezra, and the Levites urge the people not to grieve, but to celebrate, because it was time for Sukkot, the Feast of Tabernacles. It was only after the feast was over that the time for grief—intertwined with praise—arrived. In this passage, I see that a corporate turning back to God, a revival of faithfulness once lost, involves both joy and grief.
The second passage is 2 Kings 22–23. Here, King Josiah rediscovers the Book of the Law. The personal revival that this brings leads him to go throughout Judah destroying pagan worship, altars, and idols. Yet despite Josiah’s zeal for the Lord, there is no indication in the story that the people’s hearts truly turned back to God, despite pledging themselves to His covenant. There is no joy, no grief, no action of their own described. What stands out in this passage is this: “Neither before nor after Josiah was there a king like him who turned to the Lord as he did—with all his heart and with all his soul and with all his strength, in accordance with all the Law of Moses” (2 Kings 23:25).
Later in this issue, you will read about people who have been faithful to God and how He has been faithful to them, students who recently experienced God’s reviving work in their lives, and how church planting renews the Church. And it strikes me, as I write this, that we all have a profound need for revival, for joy and grief and turning to God. Not only through visible, miraculous outpourings of the Holy Spirit but also through repentance and a purposeful recommitment to the first and greatest command: loving the Lord our God with all our hearts and with all our souls and with all our strength. May we write this law of love on our hearts, teach it to our children, speak of it wherever we go (see Deut. 6:4–9). May we rejoice and grieve. May He take our hearts of stone and give us hearts of flesh (see Ezek. 36:26).
Managing Editor of Alliance Life
Editorial
Circulation Fulfillment
Julie Connon
Contact alifesubs@cmalliance.org for address and subscription changes.
Contact alliancelife@cmalliance.org for questions, submissions, and advertising information.
Contact media@cmalliance.org for press inquiries.
All Scripture quotations are taken from the New International Version® (NIV®), 2011 edition, unless otherwise noted.
© ALLIANCELIFE
ALLIANCE LIFE is published by The Christian and Missionary Alliance, One Alliance Place, Reynoldsburg, OH 43068. Printed in the USA. Member, Evangelical Press Association.
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to ALLIANCE LIFE , One Alliance Place, Reynoldsburg, OH 43068.
When requesting a change of address, please give both the old and new addresses. Direct all correspondence and changes of address to ALLIANCE LIFE , One Alliance Place, Reynoldsburg, OH 43068. Toll free: (877) 284-3262; email: alliancelife@cmalliance.org. Website: www.alliancelife.org.
The Alliance is committed to world missions, stressing the fullness of Christ in personal experience, building the Church, and preaching the gospel to the ends of the earth. ALLIANCELIFE carries on the tradition of more than 143 years of publishing stories of God at work through Alliance people in the United States and throughout the world.
2025
04 Christ -Centered
REVIVE AND MULTIPLY
How planting new churches brings spiritual renewal | by Iván Martí | pg. 4
FLASHLIGHT BEAMS INTO DARKNESS
How holy imagination and small acts of love formed the foundation of a church plant by Bryan Halferty | pg. 10
FREE VERSE
Quotes from the Kingdom | pg. 13
TOZER ANTHOLOGY
Compiled by Harry Verploegh | pg. 13
16 Acts 1:8
GOD WAS THERE, GOD IS HERE
A recap of LIFE 2025 by Hannah Castro | pg. 16
INTERTWINING BLESSINGS
How God delights in weaving His people together, for our benefit by Joyce Houck | pg. 22
THE ARMY OF GOD IS NOW IN TOWN
One pastor’s journey of following God’s call to church planting again and again by Emily Smith | pg. 24
OUR OVERFLOWING HOPE
An interview with The Alliance’s 13th president |
YOUR GENOROSITY IN ACTION
When You Say Yes | International worker serving in South Asia pg. 34
38
by Thomas George PRAYER IS
Requests from
Personnel
any churches across the United States are sensing a gentle but unmistakable fatigue. Leadership teams feel it, too, and longtime members notice it as well. The energy fueling outreach, discipleship, and worship has diminished, leading to stagnant attendance. Prayer meetings have become smaller, and the church’s vision has shifted toward maintenance rather than growth. These churches face a similar challenge: how to reignite a fading passion for mission, spark new life in communities that feel spiritually stagnant, and renew the soul of congregations that have grown weary. The answer may not be to look inward, but outward. It may not be about preserving the present, but about planting the future.
Church planting goes beyond reaching new communities; it also revitalizes the sending church’s core. When a congregation chooses to release people, resources, and leadership for the sake of planting a new church, something powerful happens. The sending church is revived. It rediscovers its calling. It reengages in prayer, discipleship, leadership development, and community outreach— all marks of a healthy, vibrant Body of Christ.
September is Church Multiplication Month in The Alliance, and one of the Sundays this September will be celebrated as Church Planting Sunday in your church. We warmly invite you to embrace a powerful truth that is both biblically grounded and missionally inspiring: planting new churches not only helps bring people to Christ in fresh places, but it also revitalizes and renews the church that sends them out.
THE MISSIONAL CYCLE OF RENEWAL
Churches that plant often describe a kind of spiritual “reset,” where they feel pulled out of their usual focus and into God’s bigger, more inspiring plan. For example, a church might send out a team to start a new campus, which shifts their focus outward and renews their sense of calling.
There’s a powerful side effect to church planting that often goes unnoticed: spiritual renewal is unleashed within the sending church. This is not merely anecdotal—it’s deeply biblical and proven in practice.
The prophet Isaiah captures this beautifully with God’s words: “See, I am doing a new thing!” When churches plant new communities, it’s one of those “new things” through which God breathes new life into His people, not only in new places but also right back at home.
PRAYING DIFFERENTLY
Pastor Steve Trudel, lead pastor of Cape Cod Bible Alliance Church, with Adam O’Connor, church planter, planted and launched a church in Orleans,
by Caylie Smith
Massachusetts, near Brewster. Their desire to plant has led them to begin prayer walking in surrounding communities that are as lost as Orleans. Through church planting, they have experienced their own personal revival. Church planting activated their spiritual muscles again—and it can do the same for others.
There’s something about planting a church that compels you to pray more fervently. Suddenly, prayer becomes more passionate, shifting from asking for the comfort of the saints to fervently seeking the salvation of the lost. You start praying for new leaders to rise, for neighborhoods you’ve never stepped foot in, for God to do what only He can do. It’s a journey that deepens your faith and broadens your hope.
Planting churches encourages the sending congregation to deepen their prayer life and reliance on God. When you release your best worship leader, your faithful small group coach, or your generous givers, you begin to pray differently. Suddenly, your church isn’t about being self-sufficient anymore—it’s about depending on the Spirit. This dynamic mirrors the behavior of the Early Church in Acts. Every missionary venture was born in prayer (see Acts 13:1–3), and every expansion of the Church was sustained through fasting, seeking God, and taking risks led by the Spirit.
A mother church that sends becomes a praying church. And a praying church is a revived church.
DISCIPLESHIP THAT MULTIPLIES THROUGH SACRIFICE
Sending out a team to plant a new church is costly. It requires sacrificing comfort, familiarity, and key leaders. However, sacrifice is often where revival begins. Romans 12:1 calls us to present our bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God. When a church sends, it lives out this posture. Just as Jesus promised in Luke 9:24, losing for His sake ultimately leads to finding life. Sending churches also makes room for new leaders by replacing those they send out. This natural cycle fosters discipleship and leadership growth. The gap
FLASHLIGHT BEAMS INTO DARKNESS
How holy imagination and small acts of love formed the foundation of a church plant
by Bryan Halferty
Excerpted and adapted from Terrible Beauty: A Story of Calling, Breaking, and the Unmaking that Made Me. Used with permission.
Our core team of mostly committed members met in the church lobby for trainings before launch. The auditorium was too big and would send our voices echoing off the walls. We needed a living room, a space that could form us into family.
These gatherings developed organically; socializing turned to song; there was sometimes a meal and then the training. I’d reach into my memory and guts to try to turn whatever I found into something practical, bullet points and pithy phrases: “We pass on our passion,” “If you want to heal you must be healed,” and “Become front porch people.” I was experimenting, trying to package values in plastic wrap. I wrestled, on and off, with the need to put all of it on my shoulders. I would have never said it like this, but I was trying to be this core team’s hero. I played the role of confident leader, but the weighty load was wearing me down.
Our core team had embraced a higher level of commitment than the average Sunday church attendee. We weren’t just going to church; we were launching Anchor Church together.
This was our attempt to drink down the vision that I had brewed in my brain, to begin becoming a beautiful community. If we tried to make it happen after we launched, the fragile values would, I worried, be swept away by the tide of new attendees with their own expectations of what a church should look like. It was all a crash course in Jesus-centered leadership and community formation.
ANCHOR STORIES
If you asked me on a day when I was confident, I would have told you that Anchor would become a movement that advanced far beyond the address where we gathered. So, I studied groups who had brought something beautiful and unique into the world, looking for patterns. Impressionists, interested in capturing movement with paint, bucked the Parisian art establishment, offering their own shows. What pushed them forward, resilient, in creative contrast to established norms?
I studied the American Civil Rights Movement, finding wisdom in their two-beat rhythm of praying in the church and marching in the streets. Bonhoeffer, in Nazi Germany, had his underground seminary; how did he train and disciple? I hunted through history. I scoured through books about the Early Church, how it grew in the face of outright hostility, but, like Christ, did not return hostility for hostility but remained open to the poor and civic leaders alike.
It became clear, through my own growing experience as a pastor and leader, and through study, that I couldn’t remain a hero. I couldn’t sustain it. It wasn’t God’s plan. I was seeing, in real time, that Anchor’s growth and depth depended on Jesus’ ministry being poured out into all of us.
At one of our lobby meetings, I rolled out a whiteboard, placing it right in the center of the lobby. Its location made people shift their chairs and crane their necks. I wrote “Anchor Stories” on the top and numbered 1 through 10 along the lefthand side.
Illustration by
Julissa Matias Flores
What I meant by “Anchor Stories” was a story of core team members expressing the mission of God in their own lives. Loving neighbors. Sharing the gospel. Stepping out in practical love toward the poor or hurting.
“Alright. Next week, come prepared to share a story of life on mission, of how you’ve loved your neighbor and seen a door open through which God might be working. Write a one- or two-word summary here, next to the number,” I said.
It was as silent as a feather falling. You might have thought that love of God and love of neighbor, being two foundational teachings of Jesus, would have been as easy as passing the turkey at Thanksgiving. Easy pickings for storytelling, especially from a group that was helping to plant a church. Nope.
“This week I’ll share a couple of my own stories, but next week I hope that everybody comes ready to share one of their own.”
Over the next few weeks, as I wheeled out the whiteboard, a few people walked forward and wrote one- and two-word summaries on the board.
GETTING A GLIMPSE
“Who wrote ‘Just Next Door’?” I asked once.
“I did.” A young mother named Sarah stood up.
Sarah always thought twice before talking, measuring her words carefully as if they were ingredients in a recipe. I was surprised that she was the first person to share an Anchor story.
“I think I have been so trapped in my own world,” she said. “I’ve been exhausted, really. And this stressed me out.” There was, predictably, a bit of nodding. “But I saw another mom down the street when I was on a walk. I just said ‘Hey!’ and waved. She waved back. Next thing I know, we are talking. She tells me her name, her two kids’ names. It wasn’t very spiritual, but now we walk together. It’s only been one time so far. Already, though, it feels like it wouldn’t be too much to grab a meal together. I am praying for her family regularly. I wrote ‘next door’ because this was waiting for me. Right there.”
I wanted to pass on the instincts of the Kingdom of God, distributed throughout the people of God.
I didn’t have to start the clap. It was already happening. All 30 or so of us there had caught a glimpse. I wondered if I could stop trying to be a hero and just be a pastor, but also, and more importantly, a Jesus follower, right alongside the rest of this community.
There was no simple turn of the faucet. But there was movement. This group began to see their neighborhood differently, through a holy imagination. The space in between their homes, the streets and cul-de-sacs, had become the landscape where God was working out redemption and treating wounds.
PASSING ON THE KINGDOM
Compare the story of Jesus to what I had to learn, while subtracting my manic antics, and you’ll actually see a similar pattern. As Jesus begins to heal, the word gets out and the masses swarm: “When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (Matt. 9:36).
Everyone was waking their sick uncles and picking up their blind daughters and bringing them to Jesus. These crowds promised nothing back to Him. There were no fees or royalties. This was the one-way traffic of love, like a father carrying his kid or a mother nursing her newborn. They were not sold on Jesus; they were—it seems—sold on being healed. Rather than having this group of broken bodies form a long line to take tickets, Jesus gathers the Twelve together and gives them the authority to do the same stuff He’d been doing.
When I wheeled out the whiteboard, I was reading from that script. I wanted to pass on the instincts of the Kingdom of God, distributed throughout the people of God. I imagined hundreds of homes as mini-blast radiuses shooting out, flashlight beams into darkness. Jesus’ vision of leadership is not one person propped up above others. It is, rather, collaboration and partnership, the growth in gifts that are as different as north and south but still somehow aiming in the same direction.
We would roll out the whiteboard each week. The creaking wheels. The erasing and the writing. How it pushed our inclinations to stay inside ourselves, inviting us to see our front porches and sidewalks, cubicles and bus seats as locations of an unfolding drama of redemption.
Bryan Halferty is the lead pastor of Anchor Church in Tacoma, Washington, a community of imperfect Jesus followers with a growing number of congregations around Washington’s south sound. His book, Terrible Beauty, is a memoir that explores how life’s most challenging moments can become unexpected pathways to grace and transformation, where beauty is found not in perfection, but in the messy, redemptive work of community and trust in God.
You can order Bryan’s book, Terrible Beauty, now from Amazon and Barnes and Noble. It is also available as an audiobook.
“A revival is nothing else than a new beginning of obedience to God.”
—CHARLES FINNEY
“New churches are the best way to renew the older, existing churches. . . . The only way to substantially and sustainably grow the Body of Christ in a city is to plant new churches.”
—TIMOTHY KELLER
“See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.”
—ISAIAH 43:19
THE TOZER
ANTHOLOG Y
Compiled by Harry Verploegh
Adapted by Alliance Life staff
Our problems of spiritual coldness and apathy in the churches would quickly disappear if Christian believers generally would confess their great need for rediscovering the loveliness of Jesus Christ, their Savior.
The fact that we are not going on to know Christ in rich intimacy of acquaintance and fellowship is apparent—but why are we not even willing to talk about it? We are not hearing anything about spiritual desire and yearning and the loveliness of our Savior, which would break down all barriers if we would move into communion with Him.
CHRIST
He is the fountain of all truth, but He is more—He is truth itself. He is the source and strength of all beauty, but He is more—He is beauty itself. He is the fountain of all wisdom, but He is more—He is wisdom itself. In Him are all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge hidden away!
Jesus Christ our Savior is the fountain of all grace. He is the fountain and source of all life, but He is more than that. He could say, “I am the life!” He is the fountain of love, but again, He is far more than that—He is love!
“Will you not revive us again, that your people may rejoice in you?”
There is excitement in true love. . . . We Christians who love our Savior ought to be more excited about who He is and what He is!
—from I Talk Back to the Devil. Originally published in The Alliance Witness on June 9, 1982
inFocus
”The Lord will guide you continually, giving you water when you are dry and restoring your strength. You will be like a well-watered garden, like an ever-flowing spring.”
—Isaiah 58:11
Photograph by Rosie, Alliance Video
God Was There, God Is Here
A recap of LIFE 2025
by Hannah Castro
Here and now—that’s exactly where and how God is moving. He isn’t just the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He isn’t simply the God of the Old Testament, stuck in history. He didn’t retire after the Book of Acts. He is present, and He is moving Here & Now.
That was the theme of this year’s LIFE Conference, the 4.5-day gathering of the next generation of the Alliance family. At the beginning of July, over 5,500 teenagers, ages 13–19, assembled at the Indianapolis Convention Center in Indianapolis, Indiana, seeking the Lord in His fullness and responding to His call.
Held every three years, LIFE is the largest and most anticipated gathering in the Alliance movement. For many students, it’s the highlight of their high school years. The way God speaks and moves through LIFE is powerful and lasting. Many Alliance international workers and ministry leaders trace their call to vocational ministry back to a moment at LIFE. When people show up with open hearts, God shows up in power.
Throughout the week, students engaged in powerful main stage messages, praised the Lord with HeartRoom Worship, packed over 1,000 backpacks for local schools in a service experience, ran a 5K, and attended breakout sessions led by experts who spoke on topics ranging from calling, to hearing God’s voice, to revival—with over 50 different options to choose from throughout the week.
They participated in the Prayer Experience—Scripture-inspired spaces that provided a powerful journey of prayer, reflection, and worship; the Justice Experience—a vivid, walk-through environment designed to open students’ eyes to everyday injustices around the globe; and the Missions Experience—an immersive, sensory walkthrough where students encountered the heart of God for lost people and were invited into His mission to seek and save the lost.
That mission was evident through the almost $117,000 given to the LIFE Offering, which supported two meaningful initiatives in Europe— the purchase of vital equipment for a new sensory gym being built for families with children who have special needs in Bordeaux, France, and helping to advance LIFE Conference in the Netherlands. We praise the Lord for His provision of funds and for stirring generosity in students’ hearts!
Lives were transformed—people were healed, many accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior, prayers were answered, doors were unlocked, hearts were opened, and God showed up. Over 800 students also responded to a call to ministry, and almost as many attended a breakout session for those who felt the Lord’s nudging in their hearts! There, Alliance Youth introduced a new platform to help engage with students on their journeys of taking the next steps in ministry.
We praise God for all He did at LIFE 2025. Please continue to pray that those who attended will continue pursuing Jesus with passion and boldness. God is not finished. He is still moving—here and now.
Hannah Castro is the story & editorial manager for the Alliance National Office. She has her master of theological studies from Asbury Theological Seminary, and she is passionate about cultivating stories in order to glorify the Lord.
Photograph by Olivia, Alliance Video
COMMENT-ALT-QUOTE HUDSON age 18
“I went into LIFE thinking I already had a pretty good plan of wanting to do missions. I was already thinking, I’m going into missions, but either my mind will get changed at LIFE or it’ll get even more fueled with wanting to go serve other people. I feel like I came out with so much more. God definitely confirmed to me that I’m going to do missions and I’m going to serve. I began to feel God speak to me in so many ways.
I had the privilege of praying for people—and I’m not the kind of person that speaks out and asks if I can pray for others. I really witnessed how much one prayer can do for someone, and it was fuel for me to want to go and serve other people. I don’t normally pray for people because I’m afraid I’m going to mess up, but God really just spoke the words through me, and that was amazing to see.”
COMMENT-ALT-QUOTE
JULIA
age 15
“I was called into missions at LIFE. I had felt some of that calling before, but it was really solidified there. Seeing others also feel a similar call made me feel less alone in it. I knew then that it was definitely God speaking to me. I didn’t have to doubt it anymore, and I didn’t have to question whether or not it was Him speaking to me or if it was just my own self wanting to go into missions. I also feel more eager now to go into my community and tell others about Jesus. I saw so many people doing that at LIFE, and they did it so easily. Hearing their stories and testimonies made me feel like I didn’t need to be scared of my calling anymore.
There were some girls in the group I came with that were non-believers—they’ve been coming to church a shorter amount of time than I have, but they have grown so much. I was very proud of them for coming to a Christian conference when they didn’t even believe in God. By the end of our time at LIFE, four girls in my group decided to give their lives to Jesus!”
Photograph by Olivia, Alliance Video
Photograph by MacKenzie Carr
COMMENT-ALT-QUOTE
BLAINE age 18
“I know it sounds redundant, but LIFE is truly life changing. I found strength—like I never knew I had before—to give a testimony in front of hundreds of people and the courage to follow God’s commands to search for and receive healing. I’ve prayed before, as many people have, that God would break my heart for what breaks His, but I’ve never felt it before that Monday night at LIFE.
I’ve felt it every moment since. Looking around to see those my age cry out for help and healing, to see and hear prayer, to see the acceptance of Jesus, it felt like my heart was shattering in the most beautiful and joyful way possible. Throughout the week, I saw people I knew—that I’d never seen respond with emotion openly—shatter and respond fully to God. In our youth group, I truly saw transformation on the deepest level. It felt like every moment was used for God’s purpose. Every moment had an impact on at least one person, bringing to light deep pain or sorrow and transforming it into overwhelming joy and peace and purpose.
From the start of the week to the end, there was a ramping up of the Spirit in that building. And when it came to a head, the response and the presence of God were palpable. God was moving at LIFE, and He continues to move in each student and leader. God was in Indy, and God is at home, here and now.”
by
Photograph
MacKenzie Carr
and
Do you or a family member need to create or update your will or trust? Orchard Alliance is pleased to introduce easy, no-cost online wills and trusts for the Alliance family. Now you can make estate plans from a Kingdom mindset! This new tool enables you to: Online estate planning isn’t for everyone, so we’ll help you quickly determine whether the online tool is right for your situation. If it’s not, contact our Customer Care team to speak with one of our Gift & Estate Design specialists – still at no cost.
or
INTERTWINING BLESSINGS
by Joyce Houck
How God delights in weaving His people together, for our benefit
God’s Word recounts for us many stories of people who encounter the Living God and causes us to marvel at the diversity of backgrounds and demographics represented in these biblical narratives. Stories like that of Jairus, the synagogue official, and the Samaritan woman at the well show that people from opposite worlds were both chosen vessels to display God’s greatness and provision. The Almighty continues to work in all sectors of society with perfect timing for His glory and for the blessing of His people.
A TESTIMONY OF LIGHT
This is a modern-day story of two beautiful Christians who are vastly different from one another. They reside in the same small town but had never met. Yet their lives demonstrate how the Savior orchestrates events to show His love and His delight in intertwining benefit and blessing for His people.
I first met John (also called NASCAR Johnny) on one of my routine morning walks in the park near the Alliance Community, the retirement community where
Opposite: John with his red scooter.
I live in DeLand, Florida. As our friendship developed, I learned more of John’s story. He openly talked of his past struggles with both alcohol and drug addiction, his time spent in prison, and of his reputation as an angry, foul-mouthed street fighter. As a homeless amputee, he was confined to a wheelchair, slept on the hard concrete sidewalk on a downtown street, and laboriously powered himself each morning to a picnic table at a shelter in the park. Why? His prized possessions were his recovery Bible and a stack of devotional books, which he pored over all day at his parkside desk.
You see, John had been radically transformed by God’s amazing grace and is a living example of the power of the gospel to turn a life of darkness into a testimony of light. His spiritual growth was obvious at the Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous meetings he attended, as well as the Bible study at The Neighborhood Center, a social agency for the hungry and homeless.
Despite the difficulties he faced, the sweet, gregarious John I knew never complained of his plight and was keen to recount the joys of being a Christ follower.
GOD’S PERFECT TIMING
Very gradually, John’s story became known to others at the Alliance Community. Bob, a retired pastor, would join us weekly in the park, bringing John his favorite breakfast sandwich and sharing a devotional thought and a prayer. Donations from other Alliance residents provided John warmer clothes for frigid winter nights. One such resident was a prayer warrior named Mary, who was always concerned for him when the weather turned bitterly cold. She also sent him a devotional book when she learned of his birthday. Unassuming Mary, a very tiny, elderly retired Alliance international worker, had been a teacher of third culture kids in Indonesia after earning two master’s degrees at the University of Michigan. She also served faithfully as the organist/pianist and church treasurer for our community’s Alliance Chapel for more than 30 years.
In mid-October 2024, precious Mary suffered some facial paralysis that rendered her unable to swallow. After a week in the hospital’s intensive care unit, she returned to the Alliance Community to be cared for in the skilled nursing center where much-needed medical and dietary help could be provided. On the very week in December that she learned that she would not be able to return to her home, John received some incredible news.
Being an amputee, John had applied for Social Security Disability Insurance benefits, and it had proven to be a lengthy process that took more than three years before a small monthly income was granted. The personnel at The Neighborhood Center began to hunt for a small apartment for him, having observed his positive influence on other homeless men and his ability to manage his money while still being generous with those he saw in need. His clear testimony had impressed these social workers and the outcome of their search, a two-bedroom apartment, overwhelmed him with emotion.
When Mary was told of John’s wonderful news of an apartment opening up for him, she immediately said, “Give John everything in my house!” God had orchestrated this beautiful match: Mary’s belongings with nowhere to go and John’s need for furnishings. She had everything materially that he needed, and this exchange provided what Mary’s sad heart needed spiritually—to be able to give and make a difference in another’s life. God’s timing is always perfect!
HE WILL PROVIDE
I got busy sorting Mary’s belongings and transporting what John would need to my garage as he awaited the occupancy date for his apartment. When that date arrived, with the helping hands of the Alliance Community, John’s fully furnished apartment was set up. He was brought in his wheelchair on February 19, 2025, to see his new home for the first time—it was also coincidentally his three-year anniversary of sobriety! A number of his friends were present to welcome him to his new, lovingly decorated abode. There were a lot of hugs, kisses, and joyous exuberance that day.
I cannot imagine John’s emotions that night, having gone from owning nothing except his treasured books and the clothes on his back to crawling into an actual bed with beautiful, luxurious sheets for the first time in years.
It also seems that the Lord had not finished blessing John. Much-beloved Beverly, another resident of the Alliance Community, was called home to Glory about the same time John’s apartment became available. When it was learned that the location of his new dwelling is uphill from town, and that wheeling himself up the hill was very strenuous work, Bev’s husband graciously donated her bright red scooter to John. Jehovah Jireh, how beautifully the Lord provides!
Joyce Houck served as an international worker with The Alliance in Peru for 40 years. She is now retired and living in the Alliance Community in DeLand, Florida, where she continues to serve her Lord as a volunteer chaplain at a local hospital and in her community’s Alliance Chapel.
THE ARMY OF GOD IS NOW IN TOWN
One pastor’s journey of following God’s call to church planting again and again
by Emily Smith
God is in the business of writing good stories.
After all, He gave us a book—one filled with stories within a story, spanning across generations and geography, His sovereign hand aligning the pieces of history and the steps of His children to tirelessly and lovingly reconcile His people with Himself.
A PEOPLE SENT AND A NATION REACHED
The year is 1884—and Alliance founder A. B. Simpson is beginning his ministry out of New York City, responding to the Lord’s stirring of his heart to reach the marginalized with the good news of Jesus, which is for all people. Simpson prepares the very first Alliance missionaries to be sent, going out to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) to reach the people of Africa with the gospel.
These inaugural Alliance missionaries followed the Lord’s call to the village of Maduda, nestled in the far western portion of the Congo. In this village, a prominent Alliance presence was established—these missionaries began reaching the Congolese with the good news, and schools were developed through funds sent by Alliance donors, providing Congolese children with education and missionaries with open doors to share the gospel.
KITHADI KWIMBI, MADUDA, DRC
Among these first Congolese people to be reached by Alliance missionaries were the great-grandparents of Roger Ntoto—a French-speaking Congolese Alliance pastor now living, working, and ministering in Columbus, Ohio. Roger is a living testimony to the Word of God brought to Maduda—he is generational fruit, grown from the seeds of the very first Alliance missionaries’ faithful obedience.
Roger’s ancestors accepted and knew Jesus through the testimony of Alliance missionaries, and these same missionaries planted churches that grew abundantly all over his homeland. “If you go to our area, in all villages, they have a church . . . all villages,” Roger says. “It’s very
beautiful. They did a tremendous job that you cannot believe.” Roger grew up inside of Alliance schools established by missionaries and holds his memories there with affection, even pointing all the way back to one Alliance teacher of his, Ms. Norma Hart, as the one who inspired him to pursue a career in teaching.
Following the end of his undergraduate studies in the Congo, Roger began to sense God’s call to the United States, particularly to study and further his educational opportunities. During this time of discerning his next steps, he continually sought the Lord in prayer, and God’s answer to him came twofold.
RALEIGH, NORTH CAROLINA, U.S.
God first spoke to Roger through a dream, “One month before I traveled, I had a dream. And the dream I had is, I cannot go to the U.S. before a man of God goes ahead of me to the work that I have to do.” So, Roger kept asking himself, Who is the man that has to go before me? After receiving this word from the Lord, Roger postponed his flight to the U.S., knowing that he could not rush the timing that God had called him to.
Aside from God’s voice through a dream, Roger also sensed His voice as he prayed, “Lord, I need You. Guide me. Show me what to do.” His transition to the U.S. came with a long, tiring journey—an abundance of change, culture shock, and a blurry vision for what the future held. But, amid preparing for such a prominent transition, he consistently heard God saying, Open your eyes and open your ears.
Upon landing in the U.S., Roger was greeted with an unexpected welcome at the airport—people he recognized from school and church growing up in the Congo, none of whom he knew had moved to the U.S., were awaiting his arrival, ready to welcome him to America! As soon as he was greeted by them, he heard God whisper, Do you see these people? And Roger remembered God telling him to open his eyes.
After his flight, his airport welcoming committee brought him to a restaurant for lunch, and as he entered, he saw the restaurant was filled with waiters, cooks, and patrons—all Congolese. He realized that this plethora of Congolese people were also here to study and further their opportunities but were having to work tirelessly to earn enough money. Striking up conversation with these old acquaintances, Roger began asking where they go to church. “They start laughing. ‘Mr. Roger, you don’t know anything about here. Life here is not easy. It’s hard. We came here to look for money. We don’t have time to go to church.’” After talking with them more, he discovered a culture of people working two to three jobs, without time for anything in their lives that wasn’t vital to their survival and success in the U.S.—here was a people who had spiritually fallen away after their journey to America.
After they conversed with Roger and dismissed his questions about church, Roger heard God whisper, Did you hear that? And he remembered God telling him to open his ears. Right in front of him were people who had walked away from God to pursue success and education in a new land. They left Me, and I want them back. Will you help Me? Roger heard God ask him. Doubts immediately began cropping up in Roger’s heart. He was in a brand-new country, among new people, and without a clear direction of where he was going next. But yet again, Roger listened to the Lord. “God said, ‘If you want to do what you want to do by yourself, I’m not going to be with you. But if you want to obey and do what I want you to do for Me, I will be with you.’ I said, ‘Wow, how am I going to start?’ It was very heavy for me. I said, ‘Lord, help me.’”
Amid the whirlwind of change, people, decisions, and input from God, Roger had nearly forgotten about the dream he had—the one telling him about a man of God going before him to the U.S. Among the group that welcomed him to America was a young man whom Roger recognized from youth ministry work with his church back in the Congo. This man began telling Roger of an evangelist, once in Belgium, who had come to the U.S. and had a ministry in Raleigh, evangelizing to the Congolese people. As the young man spoke, Roger realized the man was Kibutu—a friend of Roger’s from school in the Congo, a friend whom he had received Christ alongside, a friend whom he had lost contact with after they both left the Congo to pursue their studies. “I said, ‘Lord I know now why You brought me here. Everything I saw is coming to pass. So, I know that I’m in the right direction.’ In the morning [after I heard Kibutu was in Raleigh], I took that number, I called, I said, ‘Kibutu!’ and he said, ‘Who is this?’ And I said, ‘Roger.’ ‘No way! Roger?! It’s you?!’ I said, ‘Yes, it’s me!’ He said, ‘Wow!’ and he screamed, he said, ‘The army of God is now in town.’”
Roger remembers, “I said ‘Lord, thank You.’ Because I didn’t have any clue. But God was putting everything together in His power. That’s the way we started the church [in Raleigh].” Less than a week after calling Kibutu, Roger went to hear him preach at a small local C&MA church, and God spoke to Roger again, this time through a vision, right there in church, while Kibutu taught the Word. “I saw a palm tree in a corner of the church, growing from the ground, growing with the branches and with the fruit. And some small fruits began to fall, and three of them fell down and they [rolled] to another corner, and from there, they start also growing, to bring a big palm tree again. Three of them. I said, ‘Wow Lord, what a vision.’”
After bringing this vision to Kibutu and others in the church, they prayed—and their prayers led to planting a church in Raleigh, to reach the Congolese population. And so, Roger and Kibutu’s friends Jean-Pierre and Richard Phaku began working to bring in the Congolese to that humble Alliance church, spreading the gospel to these Congolese children of God.
Roger called Raleigh home for 10 years—during which time he engaged in teaching by pastoring the Congolese church. Yet as he leaned more and more into this pastoral role God called him to, he realized he needed and desired further education. After many fervent prayers and many closed doors, he went on to New York to study at Alliance Theological Seminary (ATS).
NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK, U.S.
Roger, his wife, Pauline, and children Glody, Benie, and Esdras moved to New York in 1999. After attending ATS, Roger graduated with his master of divinity in 2002—and then began anew the process of seeking the Lord for His will and wisdom for what to do and where to go upon graduation. While working nights as he finished out his degree, Roger often visited the ATS prayer room before or after his shifts, asking God where He wanted him and his family to go. And once he sensed God calling him to New York City, he contested. “First, I don’t know nobody there. Second, there’s no parking spaces there. All the houses are expensive. There’s no room,” Roger laughs. But after sharing God’s answer with his wife, she told him, “Wow, that’s great. If God wants us to go there, we will just go. Because where God sends us, that’s where our blessings are.”
So, yet again, God met the Ntotos with the provision of people. After putting his yes on the table to go to NYC, a man came to visit ATS, searching specifically for Roger after hearing he was Congolese and studying there. This man invited Roger to NYC for an internship, to help reach a group of Congolese and Francophone people there with the gospel. This small group of eight
Photograph by Olivia, Alliance Video
people—mainly diplomats from the United Nations, which was located near their meeting place—was soon entrusted to Roger after this man left to pastor in a new place.
Honest questions welled up inside of Roger—How would it work? How would he be paid? How will they grow? But God spoke to him again, saying, There’s an opportunity for you to plant a church. Through these diplomats, Roger and the team he grew were able to reach French-speaking peoples inside the UN and in their community, launching a ministry project that was then adopted as a branch of Alliance ministry by the Metropolitan District. Roger planted a church for this Congolese and Francophone population bustling throughout the streets of Manhattan—very nearly in the same spot where A. B. Simpson began his ministry all those years ago, reaching the marginalized of the city and sending the first Alliance missionaries to Roger’s home village of Maduda.
“If God wants us to go there, we will just go. Because where God sends us, that’s where our blessings are.”
Photography by Derek Nicol and Tira DiYanni
COLUMBUS, OHIO, U.S.
After many years spent in New York City and establishing the church among the Congolese, the Ntotos received a call from a friend within The Alliance, who had been an international worker in West Africa and was now in Ohio, helping and ministering to the quickly growing African population in Columbus. This friend had French-speaking African families that needed aid and spiritual outreach but were unable to receive much help because of linguistic and cultural barriers. Through discussions with these friends in Columbus, as well as with district leadership, the Ntotos prayerfully relocated again, moving from New York City to Columbus at the beginning of 2024. At the very start of their time in Columbus, they met the people whom they had come to help, and Roger and his family found a quick sense of peace wash over them. “These are my family,” he says. “These are my people. They embraced me very well. They embraced my wife and my children. That means there is love there. And where there is love, God can operate and do many things.”
Roger and the Francophone church began meeting in a house in Reynoldsburg, Ohio, in February 2024. This space, called the Lawson House, holds 42 people—yet, at their first official gathering there, 68 people showed up. Having a French-speaking Congolese pastor in their midst provided an abundance of open doors in this community—the church grew, more people were able to attend, and churchgoers and community members were able to share openly about their families and struggles in the U.S., creating an environment of care, prayer, and community. Right away, the church had a prominent felt need of a new gathering space, but continually ran into places that demanded a high rent payment, which was impossible for the young Francophone church. Roger describes the past year as going to “the school of faith,” practicing patience and trust with each passing Sunday. And God’s provision met the church this past May, when a vacant space was made available through the revised plans for Project ReImagine. God opened the door—figuratively and literally—for the church to gather in the Alliance Ministry Center (AMC) building. The AMC has blessed Eglise Evangélique Amour du Christ, Roger’s Francophone church, who now call this renovated strip mall space their home every Sunday. Right there in our interview—in an AMC meeting room—Roger praises the Lord for the space and tells me, “To myself, I say, ‘Wow. Things are going in the way God wants them to be.’”
SUCH A TIME AS THIS
During our time together, Roger tells me many stories, only a handful of which have made their way onto these pages. But one of the stories I most enjoyed took place
Roger describes the past year as going to “the school of faith,” practicing patience and trust with each passing Sunday.
while Roger was pastoring in Manhattan, during his travels for the Metropolitan District conference:
“We get to the airport; I saw him passing, because he was getting inside the plane. I’ve seen him ‘up there,’ but face-to-face? Never. He does not know me! But that day, I went inside and said, ‘Ah, that’s John Stumbo sitting there!’” Roger goes on, telling me about how he ended up in the plane seat right next to the president of the U.S. C&MA at the time, John Stumbo. “I look at him and I say, ‘Hi, president!’ And he asks, ‘Who are you?’ And I look at him, I say, ‘I’m just a little boy come from Congo.’”
“Just a little boy come from Congo”—one who has been faithful to go to all the places God has called him, one who has said yes to planting churches out of realized needs, one who God had in mind for such a time as this, even as far back as 1884.
Emily Smith is an editor and copywriter at the Alliance National Office. Emily earned her bachelor of arts from Iowa State University in 2021 and moved to the Columbus, Ohio, area post-graduation as part of a church-planting team ministering to the city of Columbus and campus of Ohio State.
An interview with The Alliance’s 13th president
by Hannah Packard
On May 29, 2025, The Christian and Missionary Alliance (C&MA) elected Dr. Jonathan G. Schaeffer as its thirteenth president. Jonathan is the first C&MA president elected since 1924 to transfer directly into the role from the pastorate, having served as the lead pastor of Grace Church in Middleburg Heights, Ohio, for just over 27 years. Jonathan has also served as a member of the Board of Directors of the C&MA, as the corporate vice president, and as a member of the President’s Cabinet.
In late June, a month after the election, Jonathan and I sat down for a virtual interview.
Would you introduce yourself to the Alliance family?
Yes, absolutely. I am number six out of nine children, and I was born into a family that was rooted in Jesus; my mom and dad developed a culture of talking to Jesus about anything. But I had to come to this place of desperate need for His grace, to enter a relationship with Him and be adopted into His family. That happened in elementary school when I was confronted with the tragic drowning of a friend.
My wife, Mary’s, story started off differently. She was raised in a family that experienced a lot of substance abuse, upheaval, and divorce. Her moment of desperate need for Jesus came just before her sophomore year in university, when a girl in her hall invited her to be part of a Bible study. Mary and I love serving together, and I have great admiration for her. She has been a huge part of shaping my journey with Jesus. One of my greatest joys in life is getting to do life with her and following Jesus with her.
As for how we both got involved in The Alliance, Mary began attending an Alliance church that was less than a mile from her college campus. And for me, my family left a mainline denomination shortly before I was born, and my dad became an Alliance pastor. Mary and I met in college, and after we got married, we headed off to Nyack and attended Alliance Theological Seminary. We pastored a church there and then in New Jersey and ended up coming back to the church where I grew up, Grace Church, and have loved serving there.
I’ve also had the opportunity to do some other ministry ventures traveling to various Alliance churches, districts, and numerous countries overseas to get to see all the different ways that Alliance people are showing the grace of Jesus and expressing His love in word and
deed. I also served as corporate vice president and as a Board Member, so that has been a neat opportunity to see the broader Alliance family in motion.
Mary and I have five adult kids, and we love hanging out with them and their families. They live in five different states, and so we tend to hang out at either a beach or a national park. We all love time outdoors, hiking, hanging out together, and being active.
What is the story of how God called you to consider the role of president?
I had been asked a couple of times previously to consider being nominated. In those times, I felt that the answer from the Lord was no—He had me where He wanted me for that time. But in May 2023, I was in a prayer time. We were invited to allow Jesus to speak into that moment of quiet, and I sensed the Lord saying, Jonathan, are you willing to go wherever I lead you and Mary, even if it means leaving Grace Church? It was a shock to me. I said, Lord, I would say yes to You; I’m willing to go wherever You call me. But what would that involve? And He began to lead my heart and mind to think about the role that I’d been asked about years ago. I said, Lord, if I’m approached about that, I will trust You for the answer.
About a year later, I was approached by a couple of people about being nominated for the role, and my heart was already prepared. God, in time, also began to speak through people that had no idea what I was praying about privately. He has been answering Mary’s and my prayers on a couple of fronts, confirming through people, and also preparing our church family in a way that they feel this is part of their mission to send out Mary and me for global impact. That’s been very encouraging for us in these recent weeks.
by
Photograph
Davis Evans
What have you sensed God saying to you as you prepare to step into this new role?
Often when we’re called to step into a new role, we can have this sense of inadequacy. I felt equipped for a previous role—but this new role, Lord, You’re leading me into territory that is calling for new levels of faith. I’ve sensed the Lord speaking to me about the kind of leader He wants me to be. There are a couple of verses that He continues to bring to the forefront of my mind. One is Matthew 11:29, where Jesus describes Himself with these character traits: “I am gentle and humble in heart.” So I am praying, Lord Jesus, would You give me a heart like Yours? Would you help me to be humble and gentle in my leadership role in a way that would invite others into the mission and to follow You? I think part of being humble is receiving wisdom and counsel from others, collaborating with others on the mission.
The other verse that He continues to bring to mind is Psalm 78:72, where it talks about King David: “David shepherded them with integrity of heart; with skillful hands he led them.” I am praying, Lord, would You help me to do that? As You call me into something new, would You let me lead with integrity, that I would be transparent and humble and holy? And would You let me lead with skillful hands, equipping me for the task and putting other people in the correct roles so we can lock arms together as we go after the mission?
We have a lot of godly, humble, wise, gracious leaders in The Alliance, and my heart is to be one of them, to say, “Let’s go after Jesus together and trust that He’s going to give us the strategies to fulfill the mission to which He’s called us.”
What do you feel that God is saying to The Alliance at this moment?
In the big picture, we’re living in a season that’s been marked by anxiety, confusion, and polarization. Cultural observers are expressing great concern, I think with good reason. In my time with Jesus this morning, I was reading in Romans 15 where the Apostle Paul says, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Rom. 15:13). I love that the Holy Spirit enables us to overflow with hope. We don’t grieve as those who have no hope (1 Thess. 4:13). We were born into a living hope (1 Pet. 1:3). This is what I’m sensing right now that the Lord is saying to me and to The Alliance—we ought to be people who are overflowing with hope. In a cultural moment of anxiety and confusion, that is one of the gifts we have to offer the world—the hope that only Jesus can give. Whether it’s
in our local community—finding ways to communicate hope to our neighbors, colleagues, classmates, and the people we meet—or globally, God is calling us to take this hope to people in every culture, especially to people who have never heard.
This is the biblical kind of hope that’s a deep assurance, a sense of faith-filled trust that Jesus is writing a good story, and we get to be part of it as His family. At this moment, that’s what I’m praying for myself and for our Alliance family.
The Alliance is a unique denomination, as equally dedicated to planting and sustaining churches in the United States as we are to sending and sustaining gospel presence throughout the world. What are your hopes for each of these pieces of our movement, Christian and Missionary?
It can be easy to be one or the other. But we share the same vision wherever we are, as we’re stating it today, All of Jesus for All the World. In the official mission statement of The Alliance, we say, “The C&MA is committed to knowing Jesus Christ as Savior, Sanctifier, Healer, and Coming King, and to completing the Great Commission.” Wherever God has placed us, we get to be part of this.
We didn’t create the mission, we inherited it from Jesus. He’s the One who told us over and over, “Go and make disciples of all nations, preach the gospel to all peoples, you’re going to be My witnesses here, there, and everywhere.” But how do we accomplish it? That’s one of the exciting adventures for us, discovering how we can work together and say, even in the midst of the noise, “Let’s unite our hearts again.” In my time with Jesus this morning, I also noted that it says, “With one mind and one voice you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” (Rom. 15:6). For The Alliance, as we continue on mission following some tensions in our denomination, can we once again say, “Here’s the mission before us. Let’s go after it with resolve, with devotion, with trust in Jesus that He will lead and empower us for the mission to which He’s called us.”
You are the first president in 100 years that has been elected into the role directly from pastoring a church. Do you think that has shaped your perspective as you step into the next season?
Those who have gone before me have had pastoral hearts. I think going into it directly from leading a church family may give a focus on the shepherding aspect of the role, caring for the souls of people. I want to help shepherd not only a movement but the souls of people who are leading, serving in churches and different subsidiaries,
and those ministering overseas in a variety of contexts. My prayer is, Lord Jesus, would You help me to be one who prays for them, who leads by example, who walks with humility? I think I’ll always have the heart of a shepherd. My last name, Schaeffer, actually means “shepherd” in German. So, my full name is essentially Jonathan Goforth Shepherd. And I want to live into that name.
Sometimes when people ask me, “How are you doing, Jonathan?” I want to respond with the phrase from 2 Corinthians 6:10, “Our hearts ache, but we always have joy” (NLT). My heart aches as I walk with people, as I do the funeral of a 21-year-old or watch someone going through a situation with a child with a disability, or whatever it may be. But we can always have joy because ultimately, Jesus is on the throne, and He’s writing a good story. I think in leading our denomination, it will be very much the same. My heart will ache, but I’ll always have joy that Jesus writes the final chapter.
M“I have a suspicion that your pastoral heart is going to be a great blessing to the Alliance family,” I say to Jonathan. Later, as I review the transcript from this interview, I smile as I notice the prayers our new president has woven into every answer. I think about how the Lord can use that posture to deepen the culture of prayer in The Alliance, to encourage us to “talk to Jesus about anything” and trust Him with everything. It makes me hopeful.
Hannah Packard is the managing editor of Alliance Life magazine. She earned her master of divinity from Asbury Theological Seminary in 2021 and is pleased to serve the Lord, and The Alliance, through storytelling.
y name is Demba.* When I arrived in New York City from West Africa seeking refuge, things were difficult. I had to leave my home country because I had recently put my faith in Jesus, and everything in America was so new. I was able to stay at a shelter for a while, but then I was without a place to go. I slept on the subway or in bank ATM lobbies until one of my new friends told me there was a place I could stay. Two Alliance workers welcomed me into their home—they even gave my other friend who was with me a place to live too. The three of us stayed in their guest room, and we were able to take English classes just a few blocks from their home. These workers even helped me with the paperwork to apply for asylum.
Following Jesus meant leaving my country and community to start over here, and it has been full of heartache. But when I told my hosts that I wanted to be baptized, they gladly helped me. Before I entered the water, I felt weighed down, like a truck from my home, piled precariously high with a heavy burden. But when I came out of the water, I felt like the truck had tipped over and the burden had rolled away. It felt like I was standing on clouds. Jesus is my greatest treasure.
*Name changed
YOUR GENEROSITY in action
WHEN YOU SAY YES
by a Justice Ventures International worker serving in South Asia
Can you remember a time God called you to step outside your comfort zone?
Maybe it didn’t make sense on paper. Maybe it required letting go of control or trusting Him in unfamiliar territory. But you said yes and everything changed.
That’s what happened years ago when a corporate attorney, immersed in real estate contracts and tax law, received an unexpected invitation. An international human rights organization asked if he would use his talents and skills to bring freedom to trafficking survivors in South Asia. It wasn’t his field. It wasn’t his plan. But he said yes.
That single yes led him to India, where he began fighting for justice on behalf of children, women, and men suffering in modern slavery.
What began that day wasn’t just a legal response—it was the first step of faith that would grow into Justice Ventures International (JVI), a gospel-rooted Alliance partner committed to bringing freedom, justice, and restoration to those the world too often overlooks. And while the moment that sparked it all is now decades past, the work that began there has grown into a mission serving thousands of survivors across South Asia through a growing network of prayer and financial partners like you.
One of those survivors is Shanti.*
SHANTI’S STORY
In 2020, Shanti, a 17-year-old girl from South Asia, left home after an argument with her parents and fell into the hands of traffickers. She was coerced into sex work and exploited for months.
But God had not forgotten her.
Through the work of JVI’s “Justice Hub”—a local network of lawyers, social workers, and other professionals serving the vulnerable—Shanti was rescued alongside four other girls. She was placed in a safe home and met with counselors and social workers who didn’t just see her past—they saw her. They showed up week after week. They stayed.
At first, the healing was slow. But with the steady love of her mother and the support of those walking beside her, Shanti began to hope again. She passed her school exams. She dreamed of becoming a nurse.
And through God’s provision, she enrolled in a competitive General Nursing and Midwifery program. Today, she is in her second year, studying to become someone who heals others—just as she was healed.
A MODEL BUILT ON FAITHFUL PRESENCE
Made possible by your prayers and giving, JVI’s Justice
Hub model is built on a simple but powerful conviction: lasting justice must be local. Rather than arriving with outside solutions, JVI forms deep partnerships with trusted local leaders, legal professionals, and grassroots organizations who know their communities, cultures, and legal systems. These partnerships are at the heart of sustainable change. They reflect JVI’s belief that freedom, justice, and restoration are most effective when led by those already rooted in the places where injustice occurs.
Each Justice Hub is a locally led network of advocates—lawyers, social workers, survivor leaders, and other community-based partners—working together to transform individuals and communities affected by exploitation.
The first step is freedom. Justice Hub teams identify individuals trapped in sex trafficking, bonded labor, and other forms of extreme injustice. Working alongside local authorities, they coordinate rescue efforts that prioritize safety, dignity, and trust.
Once individuals are free, the work of justice begins. Legal professionals advocate for survivors in court, filing cases and pursuing convictions against traffickers and other perpetrators. This legal work not only secures protection for victims but also strengthens the systems meant to uphold justice in their communities.
The final piece is restoration. Survivors receive trauma-informed care, safe housing, access to education, job training, and long-term support. Through your generosity and prayers, Justice Hubs provide consistent and compassionate relationships to help survivors rebuild their lives with confidence, dignity, and purpose.
From beginning to end, every step reflects the love of Christ. Justice Hubs are more than a project—they are a faithful presence in places where darkness once prevailed. Through this locally empowered, gospel-centered approach, JVI is seeing lives renewed and communities transformed.
ONE LIFE AT A TIME
JVI has seen what God can do when His people step into hard places with not just temporary solutions but with faithfulness and humility. Through this model, individuals like Shanti are not only rescued but restored. Families are reunited. Communities are awakened. And through it all, God is building something deeper than programs or policies. He is writing stories of redemption, one life at a time.
That work is far from over. Looking ahead, JVI hopes to expand the reach of its existing Justice Hubs and launch new ones in communities across South Asia and beyond, where exploitation is still widespread and justice feels out of reach.
Each life changed is a reminder that justice isn’t just a task. It’s a reflection of the gospel—an invitation to join what God is doing.
JOIN THE WORK
To those who are already walking with us—thank you. Your faithful support has helped rescue girls like Shanti, pursue justice in the courts, and provide long-term care that restores dignity and hope. Because of you, the gospel is being lived out in some of the world’s hardest places.
If you are new to JVI’s work, we invite you to take a step of faith today. You can make a real difference by joining this mission of freedom, justice, and restoration.
You can begin by praying for those still in bondage, those bravely walking toward healing, and the workers who serve them every day. Your prayers are vital to this work.
You can also financially support rescue operations, legal advocacy, and the aftercare services that survivors need to thrive. Every gift, large or small, helps sustain this mission.
And finally, we encourage you to reflect on your own journey with God. What might He be calling you to say yes to today? Sometimes, all it takes is one step of faith to change someone else’s story—and your own.
One yes can change a life. Sometimes it changes yours too.
*Name changed
RESCUE VICTIMS OF MODERN SLAVERY
When you give to Justice Ventures International, you bring freedom, justice, and restoration to people suffering in modern slavery. You launch rescue operations, promote legal advocacy, and provide the aftercare services that survivors like Shanti need to thrive. To see lives renewed and communities transformed through a locally empowered, gospel-centered approach, visit cmalliance.org/gift-catalog-alliancestrategic-projects/justice-venturesinternational-jvi. Learn more about Alliance strategic projects throughout the world in need of your prayers and financial support by accessing the 2024—2025 Strategic Giving Opportunities Gift Catalog at cmalliance.org/gift-catalog or by calling toll-free (866) 443-8262.
inFocus
“The disciples came to Jesus and asked, ‘Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?’ He called a child, whom he put among them, and said, ‘Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Whoever becomes humble like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.’”
—Matthew 18:1–4, NRSVUE
Photograph by Rosie, Alliance Video
BOARD SUMMARY LETTER
May 2025
Dear family,
The Board of Directors of the C&MA met on May 26 and May 31, at the beginning and end of General Council in Columbus, Ohio. The nature of the pre- and post-Council meetings tends to be shorter.
Devotions for the Monday morning meeting were led by Dr. Celine Bower, and she reminded us of God’s presence with us during transitions. We celebrated the reality that, for the last 12 years of Board meetings, we have been able to commission and pray for international workers being sent out by the four specialized structures of Alliance Missions. We were able to approve and pray for another five units in this gathering of the Board.
Most of the remaining business involved transactions and discussions that facilitate the ministry of our various departments.
Updates were given regarding the plan to begin construction of One Alliance Place. Under the current schedule, the intent is to have the building exterior completed (closed in) by January 2026. The Board affirmed
and joyfully celebrated the commitment to move forward with the Project ReImagine building project.
The meeting on May 31 included introductions and instructions for a large number of newly elected Board members, the election of committee members, and routine new Board member tasks.
We celebrated the presence of the Lord with us throughout General Council. His presence was sensed by many in worship sessions, business meetings, the elections, and conversations with friends.
The Board also expressed its gratitude for Dr. Stumbo and the way that he has led us over the last 12 years.
In Christ’s love,
Thomas George Corporate Secretary
to expand the reach of gospel transformation by discovering, developing, and deploying disciplemakers who plant multiplying churches.
PRAYER IS PRIMARY
Requests from Alliance workers
UKRAINE
We are currently on home assignment, and there have been heavy attacks across Ukraine, where we have been serving amid the conflict that began several years ago. The Alliance World Fellowship reported that a church was destroyed by fire during a drone attack in May; thankfully, it happened after services had ended—praise God that no one was injured. During our previous term, a house near ours was destroyed by a rocket, but God kept us safe. Pray for those who have been affected by such tragedies.
As of this writing, our friends and coworkers in our host country are alive and serving the Lord. Each church has new seekers coming to events, and new Bible studies for unbelievers have begun. We are grateful for God’s protection of church pastors and other gospel ministers. Pray for continued protection on our workers, church attendees, those serving in the military, and others as the conflict has only increased in intensity. Continue to pray for a just and lasting peace. Pray, too, that funds will continue coming in for the ministries there even while we are gone. God is doing a big thing, and it is important for it to continue!
—adapted from updates by an Alliance international worker couple serving with aXcess
WEST AFRICA
This spring, we commissioned 12 new graduates into a very unfriendly environment for Christians. They have worked hard, studied, and passed exams, but the real test is still before them. The country where we serve continues to be a place in which believers face persecution. Pastors must be creative in their evangelistic efforts, patient in suffering, and persevering in struggles. As we look at our students, most very young with small children, we ask ourselves, “Are they truly prepared for the challenges pastors are facing today in this context?” Pray with us for these graduates, for their new ministry assignments, and for an ongoing desire to know Christ. Thank you for supporting us in prayer as we teach and serve our students.
—Andrew and Esther, Alliance international workers serving with aXcess
JAPAN
On March 29, over 50 students, family members, and teachers gathered for the first Alliance Bible Institute (ABI) graduation—a new model of training to raise up the next generation of church leaders in Japan. We also celebrated new students joining or continuing the next level of study. It has been three years since ABI was launched, and about 30 students have taken part in its studies to date. Some had signed up for the lay course but then decided to continue with the three-year ministry course. Since ABI’s founding, God has sent Japanese, Korean, Latino, Brazilian, and Filipino students to study through the program. One student has joined the newest church plant in the Tokyo area and is leading worship with his wife.
As we look to retirement next July, we cherish your prayers for ABI. Please pray for protection on the physical and spiritual health of the students and their families and for ABI’s teachers, who carry heavy ministry loads. Pray, too, that the content of the studies will bring about lasting life transformation.
—Don and Hazel, Alliance international workers serving with aXcess
Alliance Bible Institute teachers with recent graduates.
ALLIANCE FAMILY NEWS
From around the block to the ends of the earth
PERSONNEL CHANGES
Susan E. Bouterse, spiritual formation pastor and executive director of Anchor School, Anchor Church, Tacoma, Wash.
Howard M. Darr III, chaplain, Central District
Wilmer A. Del Valle, non-Alliance pastor, Metropolitan District
Claire A. Elrod, special assignment, The Alliance South
Kevin L. Frank, pastor, Desert Road Community Church, Apache Junction, Ariz.
Christopher A. Greaves, institutional chaplain, Central Pacific District
Andrew A. Griffin, pastor, Watsontown (Pa.) Alliance Church
Brian W. Heath, interim pastor, Main Street Church, Vancouver, Wash.
Jett L. Hone, pastor of pastoral care, Fairhaven Church – Beaver Creek Campus, Dayton, Ohio
Frank D. Hurley Jr., church planter, Benton Plant, Alliance New England
William Khang, youth pastor, Hmong Alliance Fellowship, Statesville, N.C.
Anthony T. Kurtz, vice president, Suncrest Camp, Wampum, Pa.
Shanon Lee, pastor, Elk Grove Alliance Church, Woodland, Calif.
Rui Li, senior pastor, San Gabriel Valley Alliance Church, Arcadia, Calif.
Damian W. Mericka, pastor, Greenhouse Community Church, Houston, Tex.
Terry L. Morrow, assistant to the
district superintendent and leadership development director, South Pacific Alliance, Temecula, Calif.
Biao Pan, associate pastor, Metro Detroit Chinese Alliance Church, Madison Heights, Mich.
Tae Suk Park, interim pastor, Charleston Truth Alliance Church, Ladson, S.C.
Brandon J. Pellatz, associate pastor, The Seed Community Church, Centerville, S. Dak.
Emma K. Pellatz, executive director, The Seed Community Church, Centerville, S. Dak.
Tyler J. Puharic, president, Suncrest Camp, Wampum, Pa.
Carlos J. Ramirez, pastor for next generation ministry, Locust Valley Chapel, Coopersburg, Pa.
Brian D. Rockwell, lead pastor, Parkside Bible Church, Watertown, N.Y.
Ernesto N. Ticona, Hispanic multiplication catalyst, Midwest District
Zoila D. Vega, assistant pastor, Iglesia ACyM Ebenezer, Long Island City, N.Y.
Jered E. Weaver, pastor, Orofino (Ida.) Community Church
H. Aden Wertz IV, associate pastor, State College (Pa.) Alliance Church
Johnathan J. Woodin, worship chorus leader, Plymouth Alliance Church, Sherrill, N.Y.
NEW CHURCHES
Cathedral City, Calif., Iglesia Nueva Esperanza, 32500 Cathedral Canyon Dr., 92234
Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio, All for Jesus Christian Fellowship, 1160 Howe Ave., 44221
Dacula, Ga., The Well, 770 Ewing Chapel Rd., 30019
Edgewater, Fla., Relationship Alliance Church, 2102 S. Ridgewood Ave. Ste. 25, 32141
El Paso, Tex., Iglesia Cristiana Yo Soy, 1155 Larry Mahan Ste. B, 79925
Fort Myers, Fla., Mount Sinai Haitian Alliance Church, 4050 Colonial Blvd., 33966
Lancaster, Pa., Community Fellowship Church – Chestnut Hill, 344 W. Chestnut St., 17603
Logansport, Ind., New Alliance Haitian Church, 3529 High Street Rd., 46947
Osceola, Ind., South Bend
Congolese, 54910 Columbia Bay Dr., 46561
Shiloh, Ill., Ignite Church, 38 Sir Lawrence, 62221
Wauchula, Fla., MidFlorida Hmong Alliance Church, P.O. Box 215, 33873
Woburn, Mass., Marpe Church, 9 Archer Dr., 01801
NEW WORKERS
Franco Albano, church planter, Merrimac (Mass.) Plant
Gregory Armstrong II, multiplication catalyst, Midwest District
Bijaya Basnet, lead pastor, New Glory International Church, Cedar Rapids, Iowa
Andre D. Campbell, family pastor, Grace Church, Middleburg Heights, Ohio
Guy M. Cecchi, pastoral counselor, Cape Cod Bible Alliance Church, Brewster, Mass.
Yisreal Cha, youth pastor, Calvary Hmong Alliance Church, Spartanburg, S.C.
Jonathan Y. Chang, local church ministry, Jesus Oikos Church, San Diego, Calif.
Jonathan B. Chin, executive pastor, Citylight Church, Philadelphia, Pa.
Jeongho Cho, local church ministry, Marpe Church, Woburn, Mass.
Tim Coburn, pastor, Society Church, Portland, Ore.
Jennifer K. DiAndreth, Alliance Women, Western PA District
Ryan Doughty, pastor, Canby (Ore.) Alliance Church
Nixon N. Echavez, church planter, All for Jesus Christian Fellowship, Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio
Carlton E. Edwards, associate pastor, West End Church, Glen Allen, Va.
Vincent Eilenberger, pastor, Hollidaysburg (Pa.) C&MA Church
William Fowler, lead pastor, Ignite Church, Shiloh, Ill.
Louis Jones Garcia, youth director, River of Life Alliance Church, Grand Junction, Colo.
David Guerrero, special assignment, Western Great Lakes District
Jamyra L. Harrell, education and outreach programs facilitator, Envision Cleveland
Emmanuel Jatau, pastor, Moses Lake (Wash.) C&MA Church
Ricky Jones, pastor, Johnstown (Pa.) C&MA Church
Joseph H. Kang, local church ministry, God’s Will Alliance Church, Ontario, Calif.
Eun Soon Kim, local church ministry, Soja Alliance Church, Flushing, N.Y.
Joyful Living Vibrant Faithful Artful Healthy Fulfilled
At Shell Point® , you’ll enjoy a fulfilling lifestyle where you can explore, worship, learn, grow and even continue to serve. And with new additions to our campus, like Tribby Arts Center, a sparkling centerpiece for the arts, and the state-of-the-art Larsen Health Center, you can rest on a firm foundation, knowing that your needs will be taken care of – both now and in the future.
Unparalleled setting. Unparalleled lifestyle.™
Shell Point is located in Fort Myers, Florida, just minutes from the islands of Sanibel and Captiva.
Choosing the senior living community that’s right for you feels like finding family. At Chapel Pointe, you’ll experience a vibrant, Christ-centered lifestyle where meaningful connections with new friends and the Alliance family come naturally. Enjoy maintenance-free living that helps you to live with purpose and a full continuum of care that builds peace of mind.
LEARN MORE: 717-249-1363
www.ChapelPointe.org | 770 South Hanover Street, Carlisle, PA Chapel Pointe is affiliated with the C&MA.
Jinsoo Kim, associate pastor, Crossroads Community Church, Shamong, N.J.
Arlee Kong, assistant pastor, True Life Church, Hickory, N.C.
Christopher LaBella, worship pastor, Princeton Alliance Church, Plainsboro, N.J.
Jade C. Lau, assistant pastor, Elk Grove Alliance Church, Woodland, Calif.
Mikyla J. Malone, youth pastor, Rose Hill Alliance Church, Roseville, Minn.
Alex Mastrolonardo, associate preaching pastor and shepherd, New Life Christian Alliance, Whittier, Calif.
Bartelain P. Mouniongui, church planter, Scarborough (Maine) Plant
Peter Niederheiser, church planter, Alliance New England
Samuel S. Park, local church ministry, INTO Church, Great Falls, Va.
Binh T. Pham, associate pastor, Vietnamese Alliance Church, Austin, Tex.
Anthony A. Rabung, church planter, Really Recovered, Akron, Ohio
Alondra Raya, weekend ministry coordinator, Salem (Ore.) Alliance Church
Walter T. Shaw, associate pastor, Citylight Church, Philadelphia, Pa.
Steven Tendo, church planter, Alliance New England
Travis W. Tester, church planter, Really Recovered Wooster (Ohio)
Jeff Tillson, special assignment, Western Great Lakes District
Daniel Xiong, assistant pastor, Salem Community Hmong Alliance Church, Aumsville, Ore.
Cheng F. Xiong, care pastor, Hmong Alliance Church, Stevens Point, Wis.
Tom Xiong, youth/English pastor, Hmong Alliance Church, Stevens Point, Wis.
Xai Yang, youth pastor, St. Paul Hmong Alliance Church, Maplewood, Minn.
CONSECRATIONS AND ORDINATIONS
Susan E. Bouterse, May 18, 2025, Anchor Church, Tacoma, Wash.
Susan serves as spiritual formation pastor and executive director of Anchor School.
Michael Dorich, April 26, 2025, Alliance Gospel Tabernacle, Coalport, Pa. Michael serves as a pastor.
Jett L. Hone, May 8, 2025, Fairhaven Church Beavercreek Campus, Dayton, Ohio. Jett serves as pastor of pastoral care.
Daniel H. Hyeon, May 20, 2025, Bethel Korean Church, Irvine, Calif. Daniel serves as director of junior high ministry.
Limian Jin, April 1, 2025, Oasis Church, San Gabriel, Calif. Limian serves as a church planter.
Andrew J. Kotansky, May 18, 2025, Big Sandy Camp & Retreat Center, McGregor, Minn. Andrew serves as food service director.
Patrick H. Lim, April 6, 2025, CrossBridge Alliance Church, Cheyenne, Wyo. Patrick serves as associate pastor of young adult ministries.
Eliud S. Morales, April 25, 2025, Iglesia y Academia Alianza
Theopolis, Mayaguez, P.R. Eliud serves as a pastor.
Jeremy M. Oakland, April 27, 2025, Alliance Missionary Church,
Mountain Lake, Minn. Jeremy serves as lead pastor.
Jerusalem Ona, April 10, 2025, Princeton Alliance Church, Plainsboro, N.J. Jerusalem serves as youth pastor.
Brandon J. Pellatz, April 13, 2025, The Seed Community Church, Centerville, S. Dak. Brandon serves as associate pastor.
Carlos J. Ramirez, April 5, 2025, Locust Valley Chapel, Coopersburg, Pa. Carlos serves as pastor for next generation ministry.
Dania R. Ramirez, April 5, 2025, Locust Valley Chapel, Coopersburg, Pa. Dania serves as minister of music and worship.
Andrew Rieck, May 8, 2025, Fairhaven Church Springboro (Ohio) Campus. Andrew serves as youth pastor.
Seth C. Roush, May 24, 2025, State College (Pa.) Alliance Church. Seth serves as pastor of student ministries.
Gabriela Martinez Seda, April 25, 2025, Puerto Rico District. Gabriela serves as an evangelist.
H. Aden Wertz IV, May 24, 2025, State College (Pa.) Alliance Church. Aden serves as associate pastor.
RETIRED
Glen Myers, North Central District
Grant Brewster, Northwest District
Gregg E. Carrick, Central District
John E. Zuch, The Alliance South
John L. Sands, South Pacific Alliance
Michael C. Gerhardt, Metropolitan District
Nelson P. Houston, Metropolitan District
Onell Rivera, Puerto Rico District
William R. Winkler, South Pacific Alliance
WITH THE LORD
Norwood
Hotalen November 3, 1928–December 5, 2024
Born in Chattanooga, Tenn., Bud grew up in a Christian home. His father was an itinerant preacher, taking the gospel to the mountains around Chattanooga. As a teen, Bud attended the Chattanooga Gospel Tabernacle of the C&MA, where all his Sunday school classmates would later go into full-time Christian ministry. He received his bachelor’s from Toccoa Falls (Ga.) College (1953). There he married Jean Morrison, his wife of 69 years, on June 1, 1953. During 40 years of C&MA ministry,
the couple served the Lord in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and in Côte d’Ivoire in various ministries. Along with teaching in the Kinkonzi Bible School, Bud taught classes in agriculture and animal husbandry. He also opened a recording studio where he prepared evangelistic programs that were broadcast by radio all over the Congo in the local language. In 1974, Bud and Jean were asked to be dorm parents to high school girls, in which they served for 20 years.
Retiring to Toccoa, Ga., Bud was a member of First Alliance Church of Toccoa, where he was active in the choir, Awana children’s ministry, and as an elder of the church. Along with Jean, Bud also volunteered as a mentor in the Stephens County Schools. Current missionaries and other former students still affectionately call him “Uncle Bud.” Bud died at the age of 96 in Toccoa, Ga.
Bud was predeceased by his wife; he is survived by children Iris Joy, Stan Erwin, Norwood Earl, Terry, and Virginia Dianne; 16 grandchildren; many greatgrandchildren; and 1 great-great-grandchild.
Kathryn (Powell) McFadden April 17, 1928–March 1, 2025
Kathryn was born in Pasadena, Calif. At the age of 12, she accepted Jesus as her Savior and became convinced that God was calling her to become a missionary or a pastor’s wife. Kathryn attended St. Paul Bible Institute (now Crown College in St. Bonifacius, Minn.). There she met James B. McFadden, a farmer/rancher from North Dakota who was studying ministry. They married in 1950 and started their first pastorate in Trego, Mont., where they served for five years. Other pastorates included 13 years in Amery, Wis., 15 years in Billings, Mont., and 10 years in Everett, Wash. The couple retired in Montana, where they continued to minister in the Rocky Mountain District until James’ death in 2004.
Throughout their ministry and after her husband’s passing, Kathryn was active in music (piano and singing), Bible studies, and visitation to hospitals and nursing homes. She died at the age of 96, just weeks shy of her 97th birthday.
Kathryn is survived by children Hazel, Connie, Tim, Melody, and Bryce; 16 grandchildren; and 13 great-grandchildren.
Norwood A. “Woody” Kreuzinger April 4, 1930–March 4, 2025
Woody was born in Plainfield, N.J., and attended the Philadelphia College of Bible (now Cairn University). On June
William
“Bud”
28, 1952, he married Constance “Connie,” his wife of 70 years. Prior to serving with the C&MA, Woody founded Grace Gospel Church in St. Toms River, N.J. He then pastored at the Portland Baptist Church and was a co-founder of Pocono Christian School in East Stroudsburg, Pa. He was active in ministry in Dayton, Ohio, and founded a church in Cincinnati.
Woody began his ministry at Broad Street Alliance Church in New Castle, Ind., in 1987, retiring in 1999. He also served at the Cambridge (Ohio) Presbyterian Church and was chairman of the Chaplaincy Committee of the Henry County Ministerial Society. In addition, he served as chaplain for Henry County Memorial Hospital for three years and was past president of the New Castle Kiwanis Club. He also served for several years at the Warrington, Ind., Church of the Nazarene and most recently at First Church of the Nazarene in New Castle, Ind., as pastor to senior adults, where he was awarded the distinguished service award. Woody also had a call-in prayer ministry in New Castle and in Pennsylvania.
Woody was predeceased by his wife; he is survived by children Carol, Steve, Michele, and Patti; 13 grandchildren; and 32 great-grandchildren.
Edith “Edie” Rose Miller
December 14, 1927–March 30, 2025
Edie was born in Durham, N.C., and attended the Missionary Training Institute (later Nyack College and Alliance University in New York, N.Y.), where she majored in music and met her husband, Douglas Miller; they married in August 1954. Edie faithfully served alongside her husband in C&MA ministry as a pastor’s wife at churches in Brooklyn, N.Y. (1955–1957); Morgantown, W. Va. (1968–1985); Mansfield, Ohio (1985–1989); and Butler, Pa. (1989–1995). Edie also served in overseas ministry in Guinea, West Africa (1958–1967), and Paris, France (1995–1997).
Edie was passionate about teaching women’s Bible studies and leading others to Christ through Evangelism Explosion. She loved being a homemaker and was famous for her baking and sweet Southern tea. She was also an excellent seamstress. Edie was a resident of Shell Point Retirement Community in Fort Myers, Fla., but considered Morgantown, W. Va., her home.
Edie was predeceased by her husband; she is survived by daughter Nicole; and 2 grandsons.
Joanna Elizabeth Otis
December 5, 1937–May 6, 2025
Born in Dayton, Ohio, Joanna attended Asbury College in Wilmore, Ky., for two years before marrying Jerry Otis, her
husband of 66 years, on August 23, 1958. After a few years in Washington, D.C., they felt the call to the mission field and faithfully served the Lord ministering to the Yakan people in the Philippines for 35 years. Jerry and Joanna served in the Virgie (Ky.) Alliance Church (2005–2012). They developed many friendships there and still held them dear in their hearts. Joanna served alongside her husband and was a wonderful wife, mother, grandmother, and great-grandmother. She loved the Lord and enjoyed playing the piano and singing hymns. Joanna passed away in Lexington, Kentucky, after a battle with cancer.
Joanna was preceded by her husband and greatgranddaughter; she is survived by children Carrie and Kenny; 2 grandchildren; and 8 great-grandchildren.
Chaplain (Colonel) James “Jim” Edgren
February 3, 1937–June 4, 2025
Jim had over 31 years of C&MA ministry and was considered an Army chaplain giant. He lived a life of deep conviction and had an extraordinary intellect and unwavering commitment to serve the Lord and his country. Jim engaged in abundant ministry, helped shape generations of chaplains, strengthened the soul of the U.S. Army, and influenced a global framework for evangelical chaplains that continues. Jim graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1959 with a BS in industrial management. Sensing a call to ministry, he enrolled in Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary to earn both his BDiv and MDiv (1963–1966). He earned an MS in guidance and counseling from Long Island University, an MBA in personnel administration from American University, and a DMin in the mission of the church at Wesley Theological Seminary.
In Jim’s impressive 32-year military chaplain career, he rose to become one of the most respected leaders in the Chaplain Corps. As director of information, resource management, and logistics (IRML) at the Pentagon (1985–1991), he implemented transformative changes in how the Chaplain Corps planned, resourced, and delivered religious support Army-wide.
In addition to his wife, he is survived by his brothers David and Stephen; children Mark, Timothy, and Sharon; 11 grandchildren; and 12 great-grandchildren.
CORRECTION
In the article ”God’s Advancing Kingdom” in the May/ June issue of this year, the wrong date was given for the start of the latest round of violent conflict in the Middle East. The correct date is October 7, 2023. We apologize for the error.
Be BOLD
GRADUATE SCHOOL OF MINISTRY
ASSOCIATION OF THEOLOGICAL SCHOOLS (ATS) ACCREDITED
The mission of Crown College Graduate School of Ministry is to prepare Christian ministry leaders who think biblically, live authentically, and serve skillfully in the Christian and Missionary Alliance, the church-at-large, and the world.
M.A. IN CHRISTIAN STUDIES
M.A. IN GLOBAL LEADERSHIP
M.A. IN MINISTRY LEADERSHIP
M.A. IN PASTORAL COUNSELING
MASTER OF DIVINITY (MDIV)
Learn more
C&MA50%STUDENT DISCOUNTup to a minimum of 50% of tuition (this includes scholarships,academic other eligible grants)
A WAY THROUGH THE FIRE FOUNDATIONS
by Thomas Moseley
Adapted by Alliance Life staff.
Four years after arriving in Titao on the China–Tibet border as a missionary of The Christian and Missionary Alliance, an answer to prayer came which seemed normal in its outworking, but marvelous in our eyes. A thriving mission station had been established in the city with a Bible Training Institute in an adjoining courtyard. The chapel was too small for the congregation which gathered, and something needed to be done. Plans had been made for a building to seat 500 people, but when the measuring rod was laid alongside the old chapel, it was found that the larger building would run some eight square feet into the corner of the missionaries’ dwelling. What could be done? No space on the compound for a new church building, no adjoining land obtainable, and no funds.
But the work was prospering. Not only was there a need for a new church, there was also quarters needed for a women’s Bible school, a girls’ industrial school, and a men’s street chapel on the main street of the city. Everything seemed to be at a standstill.
As a group of missionaries, we went to prayer. We had no idea how He would work out His purposes in answer to our cry of faith, but the more we prayed the more confident we were that God was able.
Then came a tremendous shock. It was Chinese New Year, and a special meeting had been announced for the
morning. It was a beautiful clear day with snow covering the countryside. Just as the Christians were gathering, the cook rushed into my study adjoining the church, crying, “Pastor, the house is on fire!” I ran back with him and found the attic of the dwelling house was a blazing inferno. We called for help and threw out as many of our belongings as possible into the snow. Before long we had to leave the burning house and helplessly stand in the snow, watching the smoke and flames pour forth from windows and doorways.
A Chinese soldier from a nearby roof shouted, “Pastor, where’s your Jesus now?” In faith, we answered with a smile, “Wait a while; you will see where our Jesus is.”
We were walking over the charred remains when suddenly turning to the senior missionary I exclaimed, “Now we can put up the new church!” The loss of the building was reported to the mission headquarters in New York City and published in The Alliance Weekly God laid it upon the hearts of His servants to send gifts that not only covered the cost of a new modern dwelling, but also of the new church, the women’s compound, and school for girls, and enough to rent the men’s street chapel on the main street where the gospel was preached daily for years. God made a way through the fire where there was no way. And our Jesus closed the mouth of the scoffer by supplying every need
Above: A photo taken at a 1924 missionary conference in Titao attended by Moseley and his family.
With
Shepherding
Establishing
Supporting
